Gopal Kanda's judicial custody extended till 12 October

New Delhi: A Delhi court extended today till 12 October the judicial custody of former Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda in a case lodged against him and his brother Govind for allegedly evading court proceedings in a cheque bounce case.

Arrested also for his alleged role in the Geetika Sharma suicide case, Gopal Kanda's custody was extended by two weeks by Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Jasjeet Kaur in the case related to the avoidance of court proceedings in the 14-year-old cheque bounce case.

His custody was extended after he was produced before MM Kaur after expiry of his judicial custody in the case for avoiding court proceedings.

Gopal Kanda. PTI

Kanda's brother Gobind had earlier been granted interim bail in the case till 10 October by District Judge (DJ) HS Sharma on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 with a surety of the like amount.

The case against Kanda brothers for evading the court was recently lodged by the Delhi police on a court's direction.

In May this year, they had been declared proclaimed offenders in the cheque bounce case which they had settled last month in an out-of-court agreement.

The police had registered the case against Kanda brothers under section 174 A (punishment for non-appearance in response to court proclamation) of the IPC which entails a jail term up to three years.

The court, while directing the police to lodge the case against Kandas, had said evading court summons and warrants is different from cheque bounce case and acquittal in one case does not absolve anyone of the second offence.

The Kanda brothers had been facing the court summons and warrants since 1998 in the cheque bounce case related to dishonour of a Rs 4.10 lakh cheque issued by them.

The cheque bounce case was settled between the two parties on 27 August after the brothers paid the amount of Rs 4.10 lakh to the complainant.

Gopal Kanda had resigned as minister from Haryana cabinet after he was booked for allegedly abetting the suicide of his former employee Geetika Sharma with his defunct airline firm.

Gopal and his aide Aruna Chaddha are presently in judicial custody also for their alleged roles in the Geetika Sharma suicide case.

In the 4 August suicide note found at her residence, 23-year-old Geetika had said she was ending her life due to "harassment" by Gopal Kanda and his now-defunct airlines MDLR's official Chaddha.